WHEREAS the U.S. Surgeon General concluded in 2006 that “secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance, but a serious health hazard that causes premature death and disease”, and

WHEREAS the U.S. Surgeon General in 2014 recommended extending comprehensive smokefree indoor protections to 100 percent of the U.S. population to protect from the exposure to secondhand smoke and reduce smoking – the leading cause of preventable death and disease;

WHEREAS secondhand smoke contains more than 70 carcinogens and more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic, and nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 20 percent to 30 percent, and

WHEREAS Exposure to secondhand smoke causes significantly more deaths due to cardiovascular disease; and according to the U.S. Surgeon General exposure to secondhand smoke is a cause of stroke,

WHEREAS a Governor’s executive order makes all Oklahoma state properties smokefree; and state law grants authority to city councils to make municipal-owned properties smokefree;

WHEREAS most states require all indoor workplaces to be smokefree while Oklahoma’s state smoking laws still fail to protect many Oklahomans from regular exposure to secondhand smoke inside workplaces, and

WHEREAS the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) reaffirmed in 2010 that ventilated smoking rooms do not protect workers from the hazards of secondhand smoke and “the only means of effectively eliminating health risk associated with indoor exposure is to ban smoking activity,” and

WHEREAS Oklahoma state smoking law currently prohibits community ordinances that restrict indoor exposure to secondhand smoke to a greater extent than in state law, and

WHEREAS several extensive scientific studies have found that communities with comprehensive smokefree policies smoking bans have decreased hospital admissions for heart attacks within 12 months of the ban’s effective date

WHEREAS the Oklahoma State Board of Health, the Oklahoma City-County Board of Health and the Tulsa City-County Board of Health, many other health organizations have adopted similar resolutions of support

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust respectfully recommends effective public policy in the form of a comprehensive smokefree law to protect the public and prevent exposure to secondhand smoke inside workplaces and public places.